Pawan Hans grounding halts work near China border

Pawan Hans grounding halts work near China border

The grounding of helicopter operator Pawan Hans' fleet after two shocking accidents in a fortnight near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh has claimed another casualty: Border Roads Organisation's strategic road building programme along the Sino-Indian border.

With Pawan Hans' helicopters no longer available to ferry bulldozers and materials to road building sites in remote areas, this crucial programme is experiencing further delay.

On April 19, a Pawan Hans Mi-172 helicopter had crashed near Tawang, killing 17 passengers as well as crew members and grievously injuring five more.

Pawan Hans grounding halts work near China border

Among the first to be affected is the crucial road being built from Thingbu towards the 18,000-foot Tulung La Pass on the border, so far just a mule track on which the Chinese infiltrated in 1961 to outflank Indian troops ensconced on the mighty Sela Pass.

Since BRO was using a Pawan Hans Mi-172 helicopter to carry a dismantled bulldozer to Thingbu, building has been stalled until it flies again.

The Indian Air Force has already expressed its inability to support the BRO road building, since its helicopters are fully committed in provisioning the army's remote border outposts.

The rolling out of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has resulted in growing reluctance among labourers - traditionally recruited from eastern states such as Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar - to leave their villages for the gruelling manual work involved in building border roads.

Pawan Hans grounding halts work near China border

At a meeting with the Minister of State for Defence, M M Pallam Raju, on May 5, BRO proposed additional incentives for its workers, including subsidised rations, kerosene and clothing, to compensate them for the difficult living conditions in hand-built shanties by the side of under construction roads.

Alongside its 36,600 permanent employees, BRO has a workforce of about one lakh casual labourers.

Over the last 51 years, BRO has built a 48,300-km network of border roads in India, 36 km of major bridges, and 19 airfields.